There's no reason why 140 million people should be poor in the richest country on earth.
Poverty exists because we allow it to exist. It's time for us to choose differently, which is why I worked with my colleague Rep. Barbara Lee and the Poor People's Campaign to introduce a major congressional resolution on poverty. We're calling it the "Third Reconstruction: Fully addressing poverty and low wages from the bottom up" — because we have the power to end poverty.
Will you join our grassroots coalition to end poverty by adding your name as a citizen co-sponsor of the Third Reconstruction today? Building the momentum necessary to turn this vision into reality starts with you.
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Even before the pandemic, more than 2 in 5 people in this country were poor or low-income, just $400 or less away from financial ruin. During the pandemic, it got even worse. By the fall of last year, 8 million additional Americans had been pushed into poverty.
But being poor in this country means more than going without money, a job, or a home, which is why our resolution aims to:
- Protect our democracy through expanding our voting rights, comprehensive and just immigration reform, guaranteeing Native and Indigenous rights; addressing the war economy; and guaranteeing adequate incomes and living wages;
- Prioritize the needs and demands of the 140 million people who are poor or one health care crisis, job loss, storm, or emergency away from economic desperation, with policies that build up housing, healthcare, welfare, water, and equitable high-quality and diverse public education;
- Update the poverty measure to reflect what it takes to secure a decent standard of living today as a new baseline for anti-poverty and social welfare programs;
- Develop a federal jobs program that prioritizes poor and low-wealth communities (both urban and rural) to address racial and wealth inequality and build up public infrastructure through socially beneficial and climate-resilient jobs and development; and,
- Raise resources to invest in these priorities by redirecting enormous military spending and carceral spending, implementing fair taxation, and using deficit spending.
The American Rescue Plan that we passed brought crucial relief. But just like multiracial coalitions brought about the First Reconstruction after the Civil War and the Second Reconstruction of the civil rights era in the 1960s, our current moment demands action of similarly historic proportions to heal and transform the nation. We need a Third Reconstruction.
With this resolution as a roadmap to end poverty, we can do what needs to be done and deliver for people across America. Add your name as a citizen co-sponsor today and join us in the fight to lift our society and our economy from the bottom up.
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To poor people across America: we see you, and we will eradicate poverty in our country with you.
In solidarity,
Pramila
